Information recording medium, method of configuring version information thereof, recording and reproducing method using the same, and recording and reproducing apparatus thereof

ABSTRACT

A recording medium, such as an optical disc, method of recording disc version information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the disc version information thereof, and recording and/or reproducing apparatus thereof are provided. The standardized disc information can be uniformly applied to efficiently cope with the recording and/or reproducing of the optical disc. In recording disc version information within a management area of a disc, the disc version information is separated into a first version information and a second version information and also can be recorded in at least two separate areas, respectively.

This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 10-2003-0056543 filed on Aug. 14, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to information recording medium, such as an optical disc, a method of recording disc version information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the disc version information recording and/or reproducing, and a recording and reproducing apparatus thereof.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Generally, information recording medium, e.g., an optical disc on which a large volume of data is recordable is widely used as an optical record medium. Recently, many efforts are made to develop a new high density optical record medium (HD-DVD), on which video data of high definition and audio data of high quality, program data of large capacity can be recorded and stored, such as a Blu-ray disc (BD) and the like.

The Blu-ray disc that is a sort of a next generation HD-DVD technology is the next generation optical record solution enabling to be fully equipped with data to remarkably surpass the previous DVD, and the technology specifications of global standardizations for the Blu-ray disc are being established together with other digital equipment.

Various kinds of specifications associated with Blu-ray discs have been prepared. Specifically, various specifications for a 2×-speed (or higher) rewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE) following the 1×-speed BD-RE, a write-once Blu-ray disc (BD-WO), and a read-only Blu-ray disc (BD-ROM) have been prepared.

In spite of the same kind of Blu-ray disc, version of specified contents for the Blu-ray disc keeps being updated to keep up with the technological development. For instance, disc specifications of the 1×-speed rewritable Blu-ray disc are extending like those of the 2×-speed (or higher) rewritable Blu-ray disc do. Hence, the extending specified contents need to be managed as disc version information.

Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 illustrates a method of representing DVD disc version information according to a related art, 4 bits are allocated to a management area of a disc to display version information. Whenever a new version is implemented, additional bits are allocated to display the version.

The disc version information is used in determining whether a given recorder/reproducer can reproduce the data of a recorded disc. Hence, the disc version needs to be recorded by a more unified and extendible method. In the case of a BD-RE, BD-R, or BD-ROM disc of which specifications are under discussion, the method of recording the disc version information are being discussed as well. Therefore, an efficient solution for recording the disc version information in a high density optical disc is urgently needed, which should be provided as standardized information to secure mutual compatibility.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an optical disc, method of recording disc version information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the disc version information thereof, and recording and/or reproducing apparatus thereof that substantially obviate one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc, method of recording disc version information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the disc version information thereof, and recording and/or reproducing apparatus thereof, by which a new method of recording disc version information as standardized information to perform efficient recording and/or reproducing of the optical disc from the recorded disc version information.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc, method of recording disc version information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the disc version information thereof, and recording and/or reproducing apparatus thereof, by which new data structure configuring disc version information is defined.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc, method of recording disc version information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the disc version information thereof, and recording and/or reproducing apparatus thereof, by which the defined disc version information is recorded in a specific disc management area by a standardized method to provide reciprocal compatibility between discs of the same kind.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an optical disc, method of recording disc version information thereof, recording and/or reproducing method using the disc version information thereof, and recording and/or reproducing apparatus thereof, by which real data is recorded to be played back in the optical disc using the disc version information recorded in the disc.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, in recording disc version information within a management area of a disc, a method of recording version information of an optical disc according to the present invention is characterized in that the disc version information is separated into a first version information and a second version information to be recorded in at least two separate areas, respectively.

In another aspect of the present invention, in recording disc information including disc version information within a management area of a disc, a method of recording the disc information including the disc version information of an optical disc includes the step of recording disc size information indicating a size of the disc and information distinguishing a disc version within the disc information wherein the disc version information is separated into a first version information and a second version information to be recorded in at least two separate areas, respectively.

In another aspect of the present invention, in configuring disc version information, a version information data structure of an optical disc is characterized in that the disc version information comprises a first version information as a higher disc version and a second version information as a lower disc version.

In another aspect of the present invention, in a disc having disc version information recorded therein, an optical disc is characterized in that the disc version information comprises a first version information as a higher disc version and a second version information as a lower disc version.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of recording version information of recording medium, includes the steps of generating version information including a first version information and a second version information, at least one of the first version information and the second version information is to determine a backward compatibility with respect to reading or writing of the recording medium; and recording the version information on a specific area of the recording medium.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of recording version information of recording medium, includes the steps of allocating information byte for a version information including first information and second information within the control information, wherein at least one of the first and second information determines a compatibility of recording medium; and recording the information byte on a specific area of the information recording medium.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of recording version information of recording medium, includes the steps of allocating one information byte for disc size information indicating a diameter of the disc and disc version information indicating a disc version within the control information, the disc version information is separated into a first version information and a second version information; and recording the allocated information byte on a specific area of the optical disc.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of recording version information of recording medium, includes the steps of generating the disc version information into first version information compatible with previous version and real version information; and recording the compatible version information and the real version information in at least two separate areas, respectively.

In another aspect of the present invention, a data structure for version information of a recording medium, characterized in that the version information comprises a first version information and a second version information, the one of first and second version information is used to determine to a backward compatibility with respect to reading or writing of the recording medium.

In another aspect of the present invention, a data structure for version information of a recording medium, characterized in that the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to respectively represent the version “X.Y” by binary notation.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of recording version information of recording medium, includes the steps of recording a version information on a specific area of the optical recording medium, wherein the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to represent “X” and “Y” respectively for the version “X.Y” by binary notation.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of recording or reproducing data on or from a recording medium, includes the steps of reading a control information including version information from a specific area of the recording medium, the version information including a first version information and a second version information, at least one of the first version information and the second version information being used to determine a backward compatibility with respect to reading or writing of the recording medium; and controlling a recording or reproducing of data on or from the recording medium based on the version information.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of recording or reproducing data on or from a recording medium, includes the steps of reading a version information from a specific area of the optical recording medium, wherein the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to represent “X” and “Y” respectively for the version “X.Y” by binary notation; and recording or reproducing data on or from a main data area of the optical recording medium based on the read version information.

In another aspect of the present invention, a recording medium having a version information, wherein the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to represent “X” and “Y” respectively for the version “X.Y” by binary notation.

In another aspect of the present invention, a recording and/or reproducing method of an optical disc includes the steps of, if the disc is loaded, reading out a first version information and a second version information recorded in at least two separate areas, respectively as disc version information recorded within a management area of the disc, deciding whether the loaded disc is recordable and/or playable from the read-out first and/or second version information, and executing recording and/or reproducing if the loaded is recordable and/or playable.

In another aspect of the present invention, a recording and/or reproducing apparatus of an optical disc includes a recording and/or reproducing unit, if the disc is loaded, reading out a first version information and a second version information recorded in at least two separate areas, respectively as disc version information recorded within a management area of the disc, the recording and/or reproducing unit deciding whether the loaded disc is recordable and/or playable from the read-out first and/or second version information and a control unit receiving from the recording and/or reproducing unit a result of deciding whether the loaded disc is recordable and/or playable, the control unit delivering a recording and/or reproducing command to the recording and/or reproducing unit if the loaded disc is recordable and/or playable.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a method of displaying disc version information in DVD according to a related art;

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a single-layered disc according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a management area where disc version information of the present invention is recorded;

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a method of recording disc control information including disc version information according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a method of recording disc control information including disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are diagrams of a method of recording disc control information including disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 are diagrams of a method of recording disc control information using disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an optical disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus applicable to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

Besides, although terms used in the present invention are possibly selected from the currently well-known ones, some terms are arbitrarily chosen by the applicant in some cases so that their meanings are explained in detail in the following description. Hence, the present invention should be understood with the intended meanings of the corresponding terms chosen by the applicant instead of the simple names or meanings of the terms themselves.

For convenience of explanation, a Blu-ray disc (BD) is taken as an example of an optical disc according to the present invention. Yet, it is apparent that the concept of the present invention is characterized in an optical disc having its disc version information updated to be applicable to DVD, e.g., DVD-RAM/−R/−RW/+R/+RW and the like for example.

The present invention related to a method of recording disc version information. Newly defined disc version information is firstly explained and the method is then explained in detail as follows.

First of all, regarding ‘disc version information’, as mentioned in the foregoing description, a disc version is newly defined whenever new specification item is added according to the development of disc technology of the same kind and a disc manufacturer records in a specific area of a disc information that the corresponding disc is prepared by which version, whereby a recording/reproducing apparatus (shown in FIG. 8) for recording and/or reproducing the corresponding disc reads and identifies the disc version information recorded in the disc for recording/reproducing.

In configuring ‘disc version information’, the present invention follows the rules in the following. First of all, disc version information is divided into three parts to represent and is defined as follows. A first version information means new specifications in the same kind of disc format that reciprocal compatibility with a previous version, e.g., backwards compatibility with respect to reading or writing, is not secured since physical specifications of the disc are changed. A second version information means addition to the corresponding specifications with the same number of first version information that the reciprocal compatibility is maintained if the first version information is identical in spite that the physical specifications of the disc are changed, e.g., writing condition or reading condition of the disc is changed. And, a third version information means the compatibility is always maintained reciprocally by adding/changing editorial of specifications only in case that the physical specifications of the disc are not changed.

And, the first to third version information are described in the following manner for the definition thereof. For instance, if version information of a predetermined disc is represented by ‘Va.bc’, ‘a’ means the first version information, ‘b’ means the second version information, and ‘c’ means the third version information. Hence, if the disc version information is ‘V1.00’, the first to third version information become ‘1’, ‘0’, and ‘0’, respectively.

Assuming that a specification item of a new version is added to the disc version ‘V1.00’, the version information will be represented by ‘V2.00’ if the added specification item is a new physical specification failing to maintain the compatibility with the previous version ‘V1.00’. The version information will be represented by ‘V1.00’ if the added specification item is a new physical specification maintaining the compatibility with the previous version ‘V1.00’. The version information will be represented by ‘V1.01’ if it is addition/change of specification-editorial having no change of the physical specification item.

In recording the disc version information in the disc, the third version information may be unnecessary. The disc version information is recorded in the disc so that the recording and/or reproducing apparatus (shown in FIG. 8) efficiently copes with the change of the physical specifications of the disc. As the third version information corresponds to the case that the physical specifications fail to be changed, the record layback apparatus need not look up the third version information. Hence, in representing the disc version information, the present invention mainly deals with the first and second version information. Yet, it is apparent that the third version information can be recorded in the same manner as well.

Namely, the present invention divides the disc version information into the first version information and the second version information at least and defines areas where the first and second version information are recorded, respectively. Hence, the present invention enables to record the disc version information efficiently and to actively cope with the extension of the disc version.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 are a structural diagram of a single-layered disc and a diagram of a method of recording disc control information including disc version information. A playback-only optical disc as well as a recordable optical disc is applicable to the present invention.

As mentioned in the foregoing description, for convenience of explanation, a Blu-ray disc (BD) is taken as an example of an optical disc according to the present invention. Yet, it is apparent that the concept of the present invention is characterized in an optical disc having its disc version information updated to be applicable to DVD-RAM/−RW/+RW and the like for example.

Moreover, ‘disc control information’ including disc version information means information or area including various kinds of information for disc recording and/or reproducing. For instance, a Blu-ray disc names it ‘disc information’ or DVD-RAM/−RW/+W names it ‘physical format information’.

First of all, ‘disc information (hereinafter abbreviated DI)’ corresponding to a case of a Blu-ray disc (BD) is explained for convenience as follows.

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram of a single-layered disc having one record layer according to the present invention, in which disc information including disc version information of the present invention is recorded in a disc.

Referring to FIG. 2, a lead-in area is provided on an inner circumference area of an optical disc, whereas a lead-out area is provided on an outer circumference area of the optical disc. Specifically, a pre-recorded area and a rewritable or write once area are separate from each other within the inner circumference area of the disc. The pre-recorded area is an area where data was already recorded in manufacturing the disc, whereby a user or system is unable to perform data recording on the pre-recorded area at all. In BD-RE/WO, the pre-recorded area is named PIC (permanent information and control data) area. And, disc information as information required for disc recording is recorded in the PIC area. In a data area, provided are a user data area where user's real data is recorded and spare areas ISA and OSA to replace a generated defect area. Specifically, TDMA (temporary defect management area) for recording information of defect and general management is provided within a management are in such a write-once optical disc as BD-WO. In case of the re-writable BD-RE, TDMA is unnecessary to remain as a reserved area.

The present invention intends to provide a method of recording disc version information efficiently as well as a method of recording speed information for recording and/or reproducing and write strategy (hereinafter abbreviated WS) as disc information in the pre-recorded area.

It is apparent that a recording method in the pre-record area is differently applied to each kind of standardized discs. Yet, in case of BD-RE/WO, the PIC area as the pre-recorded area is recorded by bi-phased high frequency modulated signals, the high frequency modulated signals in the corresponding area are played back according to a specific playback method, and information is acquired from the playback.

FIG. 3 is a structural diagram of a PIC area in the disc shown in FIG. 2. As mentioned in the foregoing description, it means that information can be rearranged like the structure of the PIC area in FIG. 3 when the entire information within the high frequency modulated PIC area is acquired. Yet, it does not mean that the PIC area is not physically constructed like the structure in FIG. 3.

In BD-RE/WO, ‘one cluster’ represents a minimum record unit, 544 clusters gather to construct one fragment as one upper record unit, and total five fragments gather to form the PIC area.

Disc information is recorded in a front head cluster of a first fragment IF0. The disc information is plurally recorded per record layer and speed permitted by the corresponding optical disc, and one disc information includes one hundred twelve bytes. Specifically, disc information constructed with 12 bytes is occasionally called disc information (DI) frame. Moreover, the same contents of the disc information are repeatedly recorded in each front head cluster of the rest of the fragments, thereby enabling to cope with loss of the disc information.

Information representing the corresponding record layer and speed and write strategy (WS) corresponding to the record layer and speed are recorded within each disc information of a recordable optical disc as well as disc version information. Hence, such information is utilized in recording and/or reproducing of the corresponding optical disc, thereby enabling efficient recording and/or reproducing.

If the optical disc is such a playback-only optical disc as BD-ROM, it is apparent that the speed information for the disc record and write strategy are not included in the disc information.

A method of recording disc version information within the above-explained disc information is explained in detail through various embodiments by referring to FIGS. 4 to 10 as follows.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of a method of recording disc information including disc version information according to one embodiment of the present invention, in which an area for recording disc version information is separately allocated.

Referring to FIG. 4, at least one disc information is recorded in a disc, and an order of each disc information is decided according to its sequence number to be recorded by one byte.

For instance, the corresponding information is recorded at a fifth byte within the disc information, is named ‘DI frame sequence number in DI block’, and is briefly represented by ‘00h, 01h, 02h, . . . ’. Namely, if the information of the fifth byte is ‘00h’, it means first disc information. If the information of the fifth byte is ‘03h’, it means fourth disc information.

In case of a recordable optical disc, write strategy (WS) interoperating with the speed meant by the corresponding disc information is recorded in an area named ‘write strategy parameters’ field by (L˜111)^(th) bytes, and information for disc version is recorded in an area named ‘disc version’ field by N^(th) byte.

The ‘disc version’ field is divided into two parts, in which first version information is recorded in first four bits and second four bits are allocated as an area for recording second version information therein. Hence, the first and second version information, each having four bits allocated thereto, enables to represent maximum fifteen versions. In other words, first version and second version represent each digit value by binary notation. A value of ‘F’ is a hexadecimal expression meaning ‘15’ of decimal in case of ‘Vx.Fx’ or ‘VF.xx’ shown in FIG. 4. And, ‘x’ is an expression meaning that the corresponding version information is a value of ‘don't’ care'. The same expressions will be applied to another embodiments of the present invention that will be explained later.

If the ‘disc version’ field of N^(th) byte is ‘0100 0010b’, the first version information becomes ‘4’ and the second version information becomes ‘2’. Hence, the version of the corresponding disc is ‘V4.2x’.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a method of recording disc information including disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which compatibility with a disc information recording method in the currently-discussed 1×-rewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE) is maintained.

Referring to FIG. 5, 11^(th) byte of disc information is named ‘disc size/version’ field where disc size information and version information are recorded. Size information, first version information, and second version information are recorded in first 2-bits, second 3-bits, and third 3-bits, respectively.

For the disc size information, since the currently discussed Blu-ray disc (BD) has 12 cm size only, ‘00b’ means 12 cm and the rest are left as a reserved area for other disc sizes that will be added to the standardization later. For example, in case of 8 cm disc, it can be set to ‘01b’ . For the disc version information, 3-bits among total 6-bits are allocated to each of the first version information and the second version information so that each version information enables to represent maximum seven.

If the 11^(th) byte is ‘00 001 010b’, the disc size is 12 cm, the first version information becomes ‘1’ and the second version information becomes ‘2’. Hence, the version of the corresponding disc is ‘V1.2x’.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a method of recording disc information including disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which compatibility with a disc information recording method in the currently-discussed 1×-rewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE) is maintained like the embodiment of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6, 4-bits are allocated to the second version information and 2-bits are allocated to the first version information unlike the embodiment of FIG. 5. Even if physical specification change occurs in the second version information, the reciprocal compatibility is maintained in case of the same first version information. For example, if there are two kinds of discs with version 2.1 and version 2.2 respectively, a physical specification change may occur between each disc with respect to second version, but the reciprocal compatibility is maintained because of the same first version information. In another case, if there are two kinds of discs with version 1.1 and version 2.1 respectively, a physical specification change may occur between each disc with respect to first version, and the reciprocal compatibility is not maintained because of the different first version information.

The above cases are actually applied to a relation between disc and drive. For example, if a disc with a version 2.x is loaded into an old drive, which controls a disc with version 1.x, then the drive should not access the disc with version 2.x to read or write data on the disc, because the drive do not have any hardware and/or software to control the disc with version 2.x.

Otherwise, if a disc with a version X.3 is loaded into an old drive, which can control a disc with version X.2, then the drive may access the disc to read or write data on the disc, because the first version information is same.

Meanwhile, since it is highly probable that the version change may occur, more bits can be allocated to the second version information.

If 11^(th) byte is ‘00 10 0011b’, the disc size is 12 cm, the first version information becomes ‘2’ and the second version information becomes ‘3’. Hence, the version of the corresponding disc is ‘V2.3x’.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a method of recording disc information including disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which compatibility with a disc information recording method in the currently-discussed 1×-rewritable Blu-ray disc (BD-RE) is maintained like the embodiment of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6.

Referring to FIG. 7, unlike the embodiment of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, the first version information and the disc size information are recorded together in 11^(th) byte, whereas 1-byte is allocated to a separate reserved area (N^(th) byte). As mentioned in the foregoing description, the embodiment in FIG. 7 considers allocation of more bits and multitude of reserved areas within the currently disc information since the version change probability of the second version information is higher than that of the first version information. Hence, it is also possible that the second version information is recorded in the 11^(th) byte and the first version information is recorded in the N^(th) byte.

If the 11^(th) byte is ‘00 000010b’ and the Nth byte is ‘0000 0100b’, the disc size is 12 cm, the second version information becomes ‘4’, and the first version information becomes ‘2’. Hence, the version of the corresponding disc is ‘V2.4×’.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a method of recording disc control information using disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention. Version information of the present invention means not disc specification version information but recording speed version information.

Namely, the recording speed version information recorded within disc information intends to represent a recording speed extending from a precious recording speed in the same manner of the above-described disc version information. For instance, in case of a recordable optical disc, a write strategy (WS) to cooperate with a speed meant by the corresponding disc information is recorded in an area named ‘Write Strategy parameters’ field of L^(th)˜111^(th) bytes and information for a recording speed version is recorded in another specific area named ‘Recording Speed Version’ field of N^(th) byte.

The ‘Recording Speed Version’ field is divided into two parts. First 4-bits are allocated to record first version information therein and second 4-bits are allocated to record second version information therein. Hence, the first and second version information, to which 4-bits are allocated each, enable to represent maximum 15 versions.

Hence, if the ‘Recording Speed Version’ field of N^(th) byte is ‘0100 0010b’, the first and second version information become ‘4’ and ‘2’, respectively. Hence, it means that the recording speed version of the corresponding disc is ‘V4.2×’.

Therefore, these values indicate an actual speed by binary notation. L to 111 bytes includes write strategy parameters for each recording speed, which is applied to a disc.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of a method of recording disc control information using disc version information according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which presence of non-presence of compatibility with a previous version is additionally represented by the disc version information.

Referring to FIG. 9, two kinds of version information are recorded within disc information. First version information means real disc information of a current disc and is the version information recorded in N^(th) byte as ‘actual disc version info’ field. And, a specific recording method in such a field is the same of that in FIG. 4 and its explanation is skipped in the following.

And, second version information means compatible version information compatible with a current disc and previous disc and is recorded in 11^(th) byte as ‘compatible disc version info’ field. In the present embodiment, 6-bits are allocated to the field to represent compatible version information by a specific bit value. Also, alternative allocation is possible, e.g, 4-bits allocated to the field as version information of FIG. 1.

If the 11^(th) byte is ‘00 000010b’ and the N^(th) byte is ‘0010 0010b’, it can be known from the 11^(th) byte that a disc size is 12 cm and compatible version information is ‘Version 2’ (this means that a specific version value can be decided by a specification but fails to mean ‘V2.xx’). And, it can be also known from the N^(th) byte that real disc version information is ‘V2.2x ’.

Therefore, from the disc version information within the disc information, it is able to read out not only the real version information of the current disc but also the compatible version information.

Thus, the disc version information is recorded in the above-described manner by a recording/reproducing apparatus. This is mainly because a recording and/or reproducing apparatus (shown in FIG. 10) correctly reads out the version of the loaded disc to decide whether the disc of the read-out version is recordable/playable or not. An optical disc recording and/or reproducing method using disc version information and apparatus thereof according to the present invention are explained in detail as follows.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of an optical disc recording and/or reproducing apparatus applicable to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 10, a recording and/or reproducing apparatus according to the present invention includes a recording and/or reproducing unit 10 carrying out recording and/or reproducing on or from an optical disc and a control unit 20 controlling the recording and/or reproducing unit 10. The control unit 20 gives a recording and/or reproducing command for a specific area, and the recording and/or reproducing unit 10 caries out the recording and/or reproducing for the specific area according to the command of the control unit 20.

Specifically, the recording and/or reproducing unit 10 includes an interface unit 12 performing communications with an external device, e.g., host, a pickup unit 11 directly recording data on the optical disc or playing back the data, a data processor 13 receiving a playback signal from the pickup unit 11 to restore into a necessary signal value or modulating to deliver a signal to be recorded into a signal to be recorded on the optical disc, a servo unit 14 reading out a signal from the optical disc correctly or controlling the pickup unit 11 to record a signal on the optical disc correctly, a memory 15 temporarily storing disc control information including disc version information, and a microcomputer 16 responsible for controlling the above-described elements within the recording and/or reproducing unit 10.

Apart from the recording and/or reproducing apparatus, a display device 30 displaying a signal played back via the recording and/or reproducing unit 10 or providing a final user of information via the control unit 20 may be provided.

A recording and/or reproducing process of an optical disc according to the present invention is explained in detail as follows.

First of all, once an optical disc is loaded in the optical recording and/or reproducing apparatus, the disc control information recorded in the disc is read out to be temporarily stored in the memory 15 of the recording and/or reproducing unit 10. And, various kinds of the disc control information are utilized for the recording and/or reproducing of the optical disc. Specifically, the control information stored in the memory 15 includes disc information containing the disc version information of the present invention. Hence, the first and second version information recorded within the disc information are read out.

If the disc version supported by the recording and/or reproducing apparatus is ‘V1.xx’, the microcomputer 16 within the recording and/or reproducing unit 10 decides that the corresponding disc is recordable and/or playable if the first version information within the disc version information read out from the loaded disc is ‘1’ and then notifies the corresponding decision to the control unit 20. The control unit 20 then delivers a normal recording and/or reproducing command to the recording and/or reproducing unit 10. Yet, the microcomputer 16 decides that the corresponding disc is not recording and/or playable if the first version information within the disc version information read out from the loaded disc is equal to or greater than ‘2’ and then notifies the corresponding decision to the control unit 20. The control unit 20 then notifies an announcement message informing that the recording and/or reproducing is impossible via the display device 30 to a user, if necessary.

In so doing, the second version information is basically recordable and/or playable even if it is different. Yet, a recording and/or reproducing apparatus having higher second version information may fail to support a certain function, such as the reading or writing data from or on the optical disc. In such a case, it is also possible to notify an announcement message that a certain function is not supportable to the user via the control unit. For instance, if the disc version supported by the recording and/or reproducing apparatus is ‘V1.1x’ and the disc version information read out from the loaded disc is ‘V1.3x’, the recording and/or reproducing is possible because the first version information is identical. Yet, since the second version information of the loaded disc is ‘1’ and corresponds to a previous version, compared to ‘3’ of the second version information the recording and/or reproducing apparatus supports, a certain function of the recording and/or reproducing apparatus may be unusable.

Therefore, the microcomputer 16 within the recording and/or reproducing apparatus compares the first and second version information recorded in the loaded disc to its version information to decide recording and/or reproducing possibility or supportability of the certain function, and then delivers the corresponding decision to the control unit or user, thereby enabling the efficient recording and/or reproducing of the optical disc.

Accordingly, the present invention provides various methods of recording disc version information in a high density optical disc using disc information including the disc version information, and more particularly, using at least two kinds of version information, thereby enabling to uniformly apply the standardized disc information to efficiently cope with the recording and/or reproducing of the optical disc.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. A method of recording version information of recording medium, comprising steps of: generating version information including a first version information and a second version information, at least one of the first version information and the second version information is to determine a backward compatibility with respect to reading or writing of the recording medium; and recording the version information on a specific area of the recording medium.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first version information is to determine compatibility for writing or reading between the recording medium and drive.
 3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second version information is to determine compatibility for writing or reading between the recording medium and drive.
 4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first version information is to determine compatibility between same kinds of recording medium.
 5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first and second version information are recorded in a management area within the recording medium.
 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first version information represents a compatible version, and the second version information represents an actual version.
 7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second version information comprises a first version part and a second version part.
 8. The method as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first version part represents a digit X and the second version part represents a digit Y for respectively representing version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the “X” indicates new specifications in the same information recording medium and has an incompatibility with a value lower than “X” in the first version part.
 10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the “Y” indicates an addition to the specifications in the same information recording medium and may have an incompatibility with a value lower than “Y” in second version part with respect to writing or reading condition.
 11. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively.
 12. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the second version information is represented by one information byte.
 13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively within the one information byte.
 14. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first version information is included in one information byte.
 15. The method as claimed in claim 14, wherein the first version information is allocated by 4-bits or 6-bits within the one information byte.
 16. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first version information has a priority to determine the writing or reading of the recording medium than the second version information.
 17. The method as claimed in claim 16, wherein the first version information determines a compatibility with a drive to read or write data on or from the recording medium.
 18. The method as claimed in claim 17, wherein the recording medium is not accessed by the drive if the first version information is not familiar to the drive.
 19. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second version information determines a compatibility with a drive to read or write data on or from the recording medium.
 20. The method as claimed in claim 19, wherein the recording medium is not read or write by the drive if the second version information is not familiar to the drive.
 21. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the generating step further generates a size information to indicate a diameter of the recording medium, and the size information is recorded on the specific area of the recording medium with the version information.
 22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the version information and the size information are allocated by one information byte.
 23. The method as claimed in claim 22, wherein the size information is allocated by 2-bits, the first version information is allocated by 2-bits, and the second information is allocated by 4-bits within the information byte.
 24. A method for recording a control information including a version information on a recording medium, the method comprising a step of: allocating information byte for a version information including first information and second information within the control information, wherein at least one of the first and second information determines a compatibility of recording medium; and recording the information byte on a specific area of the information recording medium.
 25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the first information determines a compatibility with a drive for reading or writing data on the recording medium.
 26. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the first information represents an incompatible value if the optical recording medium is not accessed by the drive.
 27. A method of recording control information on an optical disc, comprising a step of allocating one information byte for disc size information indicating a diameter of the disc and disc version information indicating a disc version within the control information, the disc version information is separated into a first version information and a second version information; and recording the allocated information byte on a specific area of the optical disc.
 28. The method of claim 27, wherein the disc size information and the disc version information are recorded together in a specific information byte within the -control information.
 29. The method of claim 28, wherein 2-bits are allocated to the disc size information, 2-bits are allocated to the first version information, and 4-bits are allocated to the second version information.
 30. A method for recording a control information on an optical disc, the control information including version information, comprising the steps of: generating the disc version information including first version information compatible with previous version and real version information; and recording the compatible version information and the real version information in at least two separate areas, respectively.
 31. The method as claimed in claim 30, wherein the real version information comprises a first version part and a second version part.
 32. The method as claimed in claim 31, wherein the first version part represents a digit X and the second version part represents a digit Y for respectively representing version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 33. The method as claimed in claim 32, wherein the “X” indicates new specifications in the same optical disc and has an incompatibility with a value lower than “x” in the first version part.
 34. The method as claimed in claim 33, wherein the “Y” indicates an addition to the specifications in the same optical disc and may have an incompatibility with a value lower than “Y” in second version part with respect to writing or reading condition.
 35. The method as claimed in claim 32, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively.
 36. A data structure for version information of a recording medium, characterized in that, the version information comprises a first version information and a second version information, the one of first and second version information is used to determine to a backward compatibility with respect to reading or writing of the recording medium. .
 37. The structure of claim 36, wherein the first version information is used to determine compatibility for writing or reading between the recording medium and drive.
 38. The structure of claim 36, wherein the second version information is to determine compatibility for writing or reading between the recording medium and drive.
 39. The structure of claim 37, wherein the first version information compatibility between a same kinds of recording medium.
 40. The structure of claim 36, wherein the first and second version information are recorded in a management area within the recording medium.
 41. The structure of claim 36, wherein the first version information represents a compatible version, and the second version information represents an actual version.
 42. The structure of claim 41, wherein the second version information comprises a first version part and a second version part.
 43. The structure of claim 42, wherein the first version part represents a digit X and the second version part represents a digit Y for respectively representing version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 44. The structure of claim 43, wherein the “X” indicates new specifications in the same information recording medium and has an incompatibility with a value lower than “X” in the first version part.
 45. The structure of claim 44, wherein the “Y” indicates an addition to the specifications in the same information recording medium and may have an incompatibility with a value lower than “Y” in second version part with respect to writing or reading condition.
 46. The structure of claim 43, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively.
 47. The structure of claim 41, wherein the second version information is represented by one information byte.
 48. The structure of claim 47, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively within the one information byte.
 49. The structure of claim 41, wherein the first version information is included in one information byte.
 50. The structure of claim 49, wherein the first version information is allocated by 4-bits or 6-bits within the one information byte.
 51. The structure of claim 37, wherein the first version information has a priority to determine the writing or reading of the recording medium than the second version information.
 52. The structure of claim 51, wherein the first version information is used to determine a compatibility with a drive to read or write data on or from the recording medium.
 53. The structure of claim 52, wherein the data structure is recorded in a recording medium, the recording medium is not accessed by a drive if the first version information is not familiar to the drive.
 54. The structure of claim 38, wherein the second version information is used to determine a compatibility with a drive to read or write data on or from the recording medium.
 55. The structure of claim 54, wherein the data structure is recorded in a recording medium, the recording medium is not read or written by a drive if the second version information is not familiar to the drive.
 56. The structure of claim 36, wherein the structure further characterized in that a size information is included to indicate a diameter of the recording medium.
 57. The structure of claim 56, wherein the version information and the size information are allocated by one information byte.
 58. The structure of claim 57, wherein the size information is allocated by 2-bits, the first version information is allocated by 2-bits, and the second information is allocated by 4-bits within the information byte.
 59. A data structure for indicating a version information, wherein the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to respectively represent the version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 60. The structure of claim 59, wherein the first version information indicates a version lower than the second version information.
 61. The structure of claim 59, wherein the first version information indicates a compatible version information.
 62. The structure of claim 61, wherein the second version information indicates an actual version information.
 63. A method for recording data on an optical recording medium, comprising the steps of : recording a version information on a specific area of the optical recording medium, wherein the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to represent “X” and “Y” respectively for the version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 64. A method of recording or reproducing data on or from a recording medium, comprising steps of : reading a control information including version information from a specific area of the recording medium, the version information including a first version information and a second version information, at least one of the first version information and the second version information being used to determine a backward compatibility with respect to reading or writing of the recording medium; and controlling a recording or reproducing of data on or from the recording medium based on the version information.
 65. The method as claimed in claim 64, wherein the first version information is used to determine compatibility for writing or reading between the recording medium and drive, thereby determining the reading or writing of data.
 66. The method as claimed in claim 64, wherein the second version information is used to determine compatibility for writing or reading between the recording medium and drive, thereby determining the reading or writing of data.
 67. The method as claimed in claim 64, wherein the reading step reads the first and second version information recorded in a management area of the recording medium.
 68. The method as claimed in claim 64, wherein the first version information represents a compatible version, and the second version information represents an actual version.
 69. The method as claimed in claim 68, wherein the second version information comprises a first version part and a second version part.
 70. The method as claimed in claim 69, wherein the first version part represents a digit X and the second version part represents a digit Y for respectively representing version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 71. The method as claimed in claim 70, wherein the “X” indicates new specifications in the same information recording medium and has an incompatibility with a value lower than “X” in the first version part.
 72. The method as claimed in claim 71, wherein the “Y” indicates an addition to the specifications in the same information recording medium and may have an incompatibility with a value lower than “Y” in second version part with respect to writing or reading condition.
 73. The method as claimed in claim 71, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively.
 74. The method as claimed in claim 68, wherein the second version information is represented by one information byte.
 75. The method as claimed in claim 74, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively within the one information byte.
 76. The method as claimed in claim 68, wherein the first version information is included in one information byte.
 77. The method as claimed in claim 76, wherein the first version information is allocated by 4-bits or 6-bits within the one information byte.
 78. The method as claimed in claim 65, wherein the first version information has a priority to determine the writing or reading of the recording medium than the second version information, thereby controlling the writing or reading data on or from the recording medium based on the first version information.
 79. The method as claimed in claim 78, wherein the controlling step controls such that the recording medium is not accessed by the drive if the read first version information is not familiar to the drive.
 80. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second version information determines a compatibility with a drive to read or write data on or from the recording medium, thereby controlling the writing or reading data on or from the recording medium based on the second version information.
 81. The method as claimed in claim 80, wherein the controlling step controls such that the recording medium is not read or write by the drive if the second version information is not familiar to the drive.
 82. The method as claimed in claim 64, wherein the reading step further reads a size information to indicate a diameter of the recording medium, the size information recorded on the specific area of the recording medium with the version information, thereby determining the size of the recording medium.
 83. The method as claimed in claim 82, wherein the version information and the size information are allocated by one information byte within the control information.
 84. The method as claimed in claim 83, wherein the size information is allocated by 2-bits, the first version information is allocated by 2-bits, and the second information is allocated by 4-bits within the information byte.
 85. A method for recording or reproducing data on or from an optical recording medium, comprising the steps of: reading a version information from a specific area of the optical recording medium, wherein the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to represent “X” and “Y” respectively for the version “X.Y” by binary notation; and recording or reproducing data on or from a main data area of the optical recording medium based on the read version information.
 86. A recording medium having a version information, wherein the version information including first version information and second version information, the second version information for indicating a higher version, which is not indicated by the first version information, wherein the second version information including first digit and second digit, the first digit for indicating “X”, and the second digit for indicating “Y” to represent “X” and “Y” respectively for the version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 87. A method for recording data on an optical disc, comprising the steps of: reading a control information recorded on a specific area of the optical disc, the control information including disc version information, the disc version information including first version information compatible with previous version and real version information; and controlling the recording of data based on the compatible version information and the real version information.
 88. The method as claimed in claim 87, wherein the real version information comprises a first version part and a second version part.
 89. The method as claimed in claim 88, wherein the first version part represents a digit X and the second version part represents a digit Y for respectively representing version “X.Y” by binary notation.
 90. The method as claimed in claim 89, wherein the “X” indicates new specifications in the same optical disc and has an incompatibility with a value lower than “X” in the first version part.
 91. The method as claimed in claim 90, wherein the “Y” indicates an addition to the specifications in the same optical disc and may have an incompatibility with a value lower than “Y” in second version part with respect to writing or reading condition.
 92. The method as claimed in claim 89, wherein the first and second version parts are allocated by 4-bits respectively. 